Quick Sniper trades

Although I am busting my butt, studying Big Charts, I still find time to make some money, trading the style I know best. I did a quick snipe on AMZN this morning. Did I follow all the rules? Nope, but when quick sniping, you will most likely not have all the indicators going in your direction, but you must have a strong burst of momentum.

Let me explain what I mean by stating you must have a "burst of momentum"....
On AMZN, all red lines were down on 55, 21, and 10. The only line up was the black ADX line. We want that line up. The stock price and OP were dropping. The DOW was dropping like a rock. The NAS was in the red and dropping. The only concern was, how long will the momentum last? Well, I had a bit of confidence that it was not going to stop within the next few minutes because the MF off the 10 was not in oversold conditions, so I dove in with a bit of short term confidence. I know this is crazy, but I have no idea what prices I am buying my Puts. I only glimpse at the spread. I know my spread is always ok on AMZN, FB, LNKD, FDX, V, and a few others, so normally, I just pop the trade and watch my money move. I watch the movement of the DOW and AMZN, along with my account balance. I know this is not recommended, but on a quick snipe, all I want is around 10%. Also, I always snipe in on-In The Money Weeklies. This time I went in on June4 weeklies. If the price moves in my direction for a few ticks, I am literally, in the money. Before going into the trade, I knew what I wanted to get out of the trade. I also knew what I wanted to risk, so I continued to adjust the number of contracts and went deeper in the money until the spread was over .25. After adjusting for a minute, I reached my amount of around 5K. I popped the trade. When sniping like this, I did not have time to analyze anything outside my momentum indicators. Also, know this, I know the risk I am taking, and I do not recommend you to try this approach-unless you totally "Get it". I could lose 1/2 of a position or more in less than 10 minutes (seriously). I bought PUTs at about 9:46. I was only in the trade for about 10 minutes-tops! I flipped between 2 screens-My account and my charts. At about 9:47, The DOW was still dropping and AMZN was also. When this kind of action is going on, the option price is either fattening your account or crippling you (if you are on the wrong side of the trade). Thankfully, I was on the right side of the trade. Well, 10 minutes into the trade and my account reflected over a $1200 increase.

I want to break this down a bit more and explain why I place these trades, how these trades can be profitable, but also how you can lose your shirt.

I place these trades only when I see a really, really quick drop or rise in the DOW and NAS-AFTER THE OPEN! I first look for stocks that I trade often. If I do not see anything running with the market, I expand and look at other stocks on my secondary list. If I find one and it meets the criteria, I try to snipe it. I find about 2 of these trades a month.

Why do I endorse these trades. Well, in the past, someone posted a nugget that related to the sharp rise or drop in the DOW or a stock (can not remember), but these trades are nuggets for me. I almost never miss because I am not in long enough to get caught. The key is catching these trades right after Amateur Hour because they typically slow or turn by 10:15. ALL lines must point in the direction of the trade on all charts-DOW, NAS, Trend, Decision, and Action). The ADX must be up on the action. The MF must point in the direction of the trade off the 10 or action chart you use. I do not need the ADX up on any other chart because my action will guide me from the point of entry. All lines being down is enough momentum from Trend and Decision charts.

How can they be profitable? Well, the option price moves at a rate that is abnormal for a couple of reasons. One is, the stock price is moving at a high rate due to heavy trading, but if you have the confidence to trade weeklies, the option price movement is "sick" in a good way!

I only trade an amount I can afford to lose. These trades can turn bad really quickly! If it does not move in my direction immediately, I am out immediately. I have had to exit these trades in the past, but not before losing about 10% of the position. I still trade these because I might have 1 loss of 10-15 quick snipe trades. I can live with those odds. These trades are hard to practice, but you must see it on the charts, but you must also feel the trade. You just know when it is time to pop it.

Please do not think I am trying to confuse anyone. I just wanted to share this concept of trading with you. Some of you probably already do this, but these kind of trades feed the ego. I try to not allow that to happen, but sometimes, I have to step back, brush off my shoulders, and say, "Yep, I am the man". I then step back to reality and ask myself, "Where are those two baskets that you lost a couple of years ago". I am then back to being humble and trading my plan.

I hope all is well
Trade well!!
Rookie30

I bought BIDU this morning off Big Charts (Practice), but I could not help from sniping it as well (real money). I sniped BIDU this morning and bought 7 July WK1 Call contracts. All indicators were screaming trade. MF, E, broke PDH, DOW came from the red to green, RTT confirms the trend, all lines up on 55, 21, 10. Picked up a chunk and back to work.

Unfortunately, I am trading/sniping a bit outside my basket, but I will snipe a bit and see how it goes. So far so good.

Trade well!

Rookie, just curious as to the specifics of your trade: what time did you get in and out?

I entered at about 9:58 and exited at about 10:35- when the MF started to turn on me. I felt confident that the burst of momentum was slowing when the MF changed directions. I did not want to give any of it back, so I exited. A month ago, I might have entered closer to 9:50, but this market has me a bit skittish.

I cannot think of a time I have sniped outside of the window (9:45-11:20). I enter 90% of my trades between 9:50-10:30. If I do not see a trade by 10:30, I typically close up shop, and live to trade another day. I will challenge some to analyze this window of time, and you will see what I am talking about. It is amazing to me! Based on my complete satisfaction with gaining 10%, I tend to see more trades than most. Lately, I have placed about 2 trades a week. When things are stable, I place 3 to 4 a week. My mind is focused on one thing, "How can I get 10% from a trade". That is it. I am guilty of exiting the position, immediately after gaining that ideal percentage. I can live with that.

The last thing I will say is, I believe in the power of prayer. I pray before I place real money trades. I know that sounds a bit funny, but I think it is important for God to be actively involved in my daily decisions and actions. God knows where I started, and for whatever reason, he chose to use trading as a vehicle to free me and my family from financial destruction. Please tear some of our trades apart and see if you can understand why trades were placed. I know you did not ask for all of that, but I know some are wondering when will it happen and they learn how to trade well. I stated in a post over a year ago that when it happens, you will know it! It only comes from hard, hard work, studying, and practicing until you are beat. When you are getting really close to "Getting It", that "thing" will wake you, or keep you from going to sleep early. You just cannot get enough of a process or approach. It keeps coming back. Finally, it hits you, and from that point on, you have it forever. I think the one technical piece that separate the average/good trader from the great trader is, minimizing the size of your losses. You will lose, but you just do not want to lose big. I gained confidence when I learned how to handle this part of trading. I know when my trade is not going well, and I have learned to get out and forget about that little $100. In the past, I traded ok, but I did not know when to get out, therefore, my loses were bigger. I was explaining to my son that in trading, it is possible to have 6 losing trades and 4 winners and make a ton of money. Of course, no one wants to lose 6 out of 10 trades, but hopefully you see the point. OK- I will stop because I have so much more to say about this mindset of trading. It is such a major part of this entire process.

As always, thanks for sharing. I enjoy your posts and continue to learn from them.

rookie30 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I pray before I place real money
> trades. I know that sounds a bit funny, but I
> think it is important for God to be actively
> involved in my daily decisions and actions.

Doesn't sound funny at all. I do this before almost EVERYTHING and give THANKS afterwards no matter the outcome. God is a part of every aspect of my life. Thanks for sharing.

Days similar to today can present major issues with my intraday approach. I was not in the office for the open, but after glancing back at the stocks I trade and my secondary basket, I am not sure I would have been able to pop a trade this morning. I am fearful of stocks that demonstrate overbought or oversold situations as early as 9:50 off the 21 chart. I can expect those conditions on my action, but my MF line should not approach or hit the 80 or 20 line on my MF. I probably would have placed a trade with very extreme caution. All lines were up on several stocks, so I would have most likely minimized the size of my position and jumped in.

Rule of thumb for me is, when the crowd is running hard-similar to today, I am very cautious because if I jump and the run stops and reverses, I could get caught in a whipsaw and take a huge loss in a matter of seconds.

I am still in my BIDU Big Chart practice trade. I am concerned about the conditions. My MF tells me on my Daily, 233, 144, and 55 that the conditions are overbought, but my E is still pretty strong and charts are looking good, so I will see how things go as we approach the last trading hours of the day. At this point, I see no major reason to get out because I have a bit of momentum behind me with the MACD still showing diversion on Daily and 233, ADX up on Trend and Decision. I also have a little brick underneath me. We will see how it goes.